Cristina Kotz Cornejo
Encyclopedia
Cristina Kotz Cornejo is an Argentine-American director
and screenwriter
who resides in Boston, MA and Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, and a dual citizen of the US and Argentina.
's Tisch School of the Arts
graduate film program and the University of Southern California
's undergraduate program in International Relations
. She studied directing under Spike Lee
, Nancy Savoca
, Sara Driver
and French filmmaker Pascal Aubier
while at NYU Film School. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from Antioch University
Los Angeles.
In 2007 she premiered her first feature film, 3 Américas
, which she wrote, directed and produced at the 2007 Woodstock Film Festival
. The script was in the official script competition of the 25th Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana
, Cuba
under the title, Soledad. The script was developed at the National Association of Latino Independent Producer's 2004 Latino Writer's Lab, the Independent Feature Project (IFP
)New York Director's Lab and participated in the 2004 Sundance Institute
's Independent Producer's Conference. It also was awarded 2004 and 2007 Moving Image Fund Grants from the LEF Foundation. 3 Américas
is distributed by Vanguard Cinema and Cinetic Rights Management.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo has made several short films. Despertar/Awaken, her most recent short, is currently playing the festival circuit. The War That Never Was (La Guerra Que No Fue), was the only Argentine short to be selected by the Seattle International Film Festival
in 2005 to screen in the Viva Argentina! Program. The War That Never Was has screened at over 25 festivals and venues in over 11 countries and is distributed by Ouat! Media of Toronto, Canada; Ernesto, which was commissioned by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
and premiered at the 2000 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
is distributed online by Cinedulce; Ocean Waves, won the 2003 Award of Merit from the University Film and Video Association
and her thesis film, The Appointment, which was made under the advisement of Spike Lee
while a student at NYU, was awarded the Warner Bros.
Pictures Production Award, the NYU Craft Award for Musical Score by her brother Andy Kotz (who also scored "Ernesto") and was picked up for distribution by Urban Entertainment after its premiere at NYU's First Run Film Festival; and Jewel and The Catch, a documentary on the life of gay rights activist Jewel Thais Williams, is a part of the UCLA Film Archives' Outfest
Legacy Project Collection.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo is the granddaughter of Argentine guitarist/composer Agustin Cornejo who performed his compositions La Chinita and Un Bailongo with Carlos Gardel
in the film El Tango en Broadway. Agustin Cornejo also appeared in Cuesta Abajo and "El Dia Que Me Quieras
" where he became mentor to then 11 year-old Ástor Piazzolla
and friends with his father Nonino Piazzolla. The Gardel films for Paramount Pictures were directed by French filmmaker, Louis J. Gasnier
and John Reinhardt in the 1930s in New York City.
She is currently an Associate Professor of film production at Emerson College
in Boston, MA. She is the recipient of the 2007-08 Mann Stearns Distinguished Faculty Award.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
who resides in Boston, MA and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and a dual citizen of the US and Argentina.
Biography
Kotz Cornejo is graduate of New York UniversityNew York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
graduate film program and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
's undergraduate program in International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
. She studied directing under Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
, Nancy Savoca
Nancy Savoca
Nancy Savoca is an American film screenwriter, director, and producer. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, she is the daughter of Sicilian and Argentine immigrants Calogero Savoca and Maria Elvira Savoca...
, Sara Driver
Sara Driver
Sara Driver is an independent filmmaker born in Westfield, NJ. She produced two early films for Jim Jarmusch, helping him to gain international attention and success...
and French filmmaker Pascal Aubier
Pascal Aubier
Pascal Aubier is a French actor, director, script writer, producer and editor, born in 1943 in Paris .- As actor :* 1958 : Faibles femmes* 1964 : Lucky Jo* 1965 : Pierrot le fou : Brother #2* 1966 : Chappaqua...
while at NYU Film School. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from Antioch University
Antioch University
Antioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...
Los Angeles.
In 2007 she premiered her first feature film, 3 Américas
3 Américas
3 Américas is a 2007 Argentine/U.S. dramatic film written and directed by Cristina Kotz Cornejo. The film was produced by Cristina Kotz Cornejo and Angela Counts. The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Plot :...
, which she wrote, directed and produced at the 2007 Woodstock Film Festival
Woodstock Film Festival
The Woodstock Film Festival is an American film festival that was begun in 1999. The festival was first conceived as a part of the Woodstock '99 Music and Arts Festival, with movies being screened as part of that event.-History:...
. The script was in the official script competition of the 25th Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
under the title, Soledad. The script was developed at the National Association of Latino Independent Producer's 2004 Latino Writer's Lab, the Independent Feature Project (IFP
IFP
IFP can stand for:* International Federation of Poker* Interwise Food Portal* Independent Feature Project* "The Illinois Functional Programming Interpreter", A.D. Robison, Proc 1987 SIGPLAN Conf on Interpreters and Interpretive Techniques , pp...
)New York Director's Lab and participated in the 2004 Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...
's Independent Producer's Conference. It also was awarded 2004 and 2007 Moving Image Fund Grants from the LEF Foundation. 3 Américas
3 Américas
3 Américas is a 2007 Argentine/U.S. dramatic film written and directed by Cristina Kotz Cornejo. The film was produced by Cristina Kotz Cornejo and Angela Counts. The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Plot :...
is distributed by Vanguard Cinema and Cinetic Rights Management.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo has made several short films. Despertar/Awaken, her most recent short, is currently playing the festival circuit. The War That Never Was (La Guerra Que No Fue), was the only Argentine short to be selected by the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
in 2005 to screen in the Viva Argentina! Program. The War That Never Was has screened at over 25 festivals and venues in over 11 countries and is distributed by Ouat! Media of Toronto, Canada; Ernesto, which was commissioned by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is a non-profit organization that helps parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their children...
and premiered at the 2000 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films
The Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films held annually in Palm Springs, California is the largest film festival for short films in the United States....
is distributed online by Cinedulce; Ocean Waves, won the 2003 Award of Merit from the University Film and Video Association
University Film and Video Association
The University Film and Video Association is an organization of professors, scholars, and film and video makers. Although it is based in the U.S., it has members throughout the world.Its stated description is:...
and her thesis film, The Appointment, which was made under the advisement of Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
while a student at NYU, was awarded the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Pictures Production Award, the NYU Craft Award for Musical Score by her brother Andy Kotz (who also scored "Ernesto") and was picked up for distribution by Urban Entertainment after its premiere at NYU's First Run Film Festival; and Jewel and The Catch, a documentary on the life of gay rights activist Jewel Thais Williams, is a part of the UCLA Film Archives' Outfest
Outfest
Outfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:...
Legacy Project Collection.
Cristina Kotz Cornejo is the granddaughter of Argentine guitarist/composer Agustin Cornejo who performed his compositions La Chinita and Un Bailongo with Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
in the film El Tango en Broadway. Agustin Cornejo also appeared in Cuesta Abajo and "El Dia Que Me Quieras
El día que me quieras
El día que me quieras is a song composed by Carlos Gardel, an Argentinian singer-musician, with text by Alfredo Le Pera. It became a heavily recorded tango standard, even by artists outside of the realm of tango.-Luis Miguel version:...
" where he became mentor to then 11 year-old Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Piazzolla
Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
and friends with his father Nonino Piazzolla. The Gardel films for Paramount Pictures were directed by French filmmaker, Louis J. Gasnier
Louis J. Gasnier
Louis J. Gasnier was a French film director.Born in Paris, Gasnier was working in theatre when Pathé hired him to direct films in the earliest days of cinema. He directed comedian Max Linder in many of his early short comedies...
and John Reinhardt in the 1930s in New York City.
She is currently an Associate Professor of film production at Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
in Boston, MA. She is the recipient of the 2007-08 Mann Stearns Distinguished Faculty Award.
Director
- Despertar/Awaken (2011) (short)
- 3 Américas3 Américas3 Américas is a 2007 Argentine/U.S. dramatic film written and directed by Cristina Kotz Cornejo. The film was produced by Cristina Kotz Cornejo and Angela Counts. The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Plot :...
(2007)
- The War That Never Was/La Guerra Que No Fue (2004) (short)
- Ocean Waves (2003) (short)
- Ernesto (2000) (short)
- The Appointment (1999) (short)
- Jewel and The Catch (1991) (short)
Writer
- Despertar/Awaken (2011) (short)
- 3 Américas3 Américas3 Américas is a 2007 Argentine/U.S. dramatic film written and directed by Cristina Kotz Cornejo. The film was produced by Cristina Kotz Cornejo and Angela Counts. The story takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Plot :...
(2007)
- The War That Never Was/La Guerra Que No Fue (2004) (short)
- Ernesto (2000) (short)
External links
- 3 Américas Official Site
- Wild Wimmin Films Site
- Emerson College Bio
- The Independent Review of 3 Américas
- WAMC Public Radio Interview
- 3 Américas on Indiewire
- The War That Never Was at Seattle International Film Festival
- Partnership for a Drugfree America Press Release
- Indiepix Interview with Cristina Kotz Cornejo
- UCLA Film Archive Outfest Legacy Project Collection
- Outfest Legacy Project Collection Guide
- Ernesto on Cinedulce
- Andy Kotz's Official Website
- AKMusic Productions Official Website